BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 436 Page 1 Date of Hearing: September 11, 2013 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES Wesley Chesbro, Chair SB 436 (Jackson) - As Amended: September 6, 2013 SENATE VOTE : Not relevant SUBJECT : Port Hueneme Beach shoreline protection SUMMARY : Appropriates $1,000,000 from the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Fund (Prop 12) for emergency measures permitted by the California Coastal Commission (Commission) to prevent severe infrastructure damage to streets and property located along the Hueneme Beach caused by beach erosion and flooding. Requires that should the Commission require work at Hueneme Beach that is not eligible for Prop 12 funding, the Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund (HWRF) provide funding. Specifically, this bill : 1)Makes the following findings and declarations: a) Funds are needed immediately for the City of Port Hueneme to implement emergency measures to prevent significant damage caused by severe erosion at Hueneme Beach to public infrastructure, public roads that include a route identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as feeding into a tsunami evacuation route, and community areas. b) These funds are also needed to prevent down coast negative impacts to the Ormond Beach Wetlands, a sensitive and ecologically important public resource, to ensure that the environmental quality of this unique estuary is protected. c) Given the sizeable waste that remains at the Halaco Superfund Site, these funds are also critically needed to prevent downshore erosion. 2)Makes moneys from the HWRF available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to a city for a grant or loan to fund emergency measures to prevent severe infrastructure damage to streets and property within the city caused by beach erosion and flooding. SB 436 Page 2 3)Appropriates, notwithstanding any other law, $1,000,000 from Prop 12 to the State Coastal Conservancy for a grant to the City of Port Hueneme. Requires the funding to be allocated for emergency measures to prevent severe infrastructure damage to streets and property located along the Hueneme Beach caused by beach erosion and flooding. Requires this appropriation to only be used for erosion control projects for which a permit has been approved by the Commission. 4)Requires, if the Commission requires a project that is not eligible for funding under prop 12, $1,000,000 to be allocated by either loan or grant from the Harbors and Watercraft Revolving Fund for a grant or loan to the City of Port Hueneme. Requires the funding to be available for emergency measures to prevent severe infrastructure damage to streets and property located along Hueneme Beach caused by beach erosion and flooding. Requires this appropriation to only be used for erosion control projects for which a permit has been approved by the Commission. 5)Contains an urgency clause and explains that it is necessary for this measure to take effect immediately to provide the necessary funding as soon as possible to implement emergency measures designed to prevent severe infrastructure damage to public infrastructure, public roads, and community areas threatened by flooding as a result of severe erosion along Hueneme Beach in the City of Port Hueneme. EXISTING LAW : 1)Provides, pursuant to Prop 12 (passed in 2000) $2,100,000,000 to protect land around lakes, rivers, and streams and the coast to improve water quality and ensure clean drinking water; to protect forests and plant trees to improve air quality; to preserve open space and farmland threatened by unplanned development; to protect wildlife habitats; and to repair and improve the safety of state and neighborhood parks. 2)Establishes the HWRV Fund to finance the activities of the Division of Boating and Waterways in administering the programs specified in the Harbors and Navigation Code; the Department of Parks and Recreation for operation and maintenance of units of the state park system that have SB 436 Page 3 boating-related activities; the State Water Resources Control Board for boating-related water quality regulatory activities; the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Food and Agriculture for activities addressing the boating-related spread of invasive species. Funds the HWRV through annual appropriations from the Motor Vehicle Fuel Account from taxes imposed on distribution of fuel to propel vessels; a portion of vessel registration fees; fees received from the licensing of yacht and ship brokers and salesmen; and interest and repayment of loans by local governments. FISCAL EFFECT : Cost of up to $1,000,000 from Prop 12 and/or the HWRF for the emergency measures permitted by the Commission to prevent severe infrastructure damage to streets and property located along the Hueneme Beach caused by beach erosion and flooding. COMMENTS : Background. The City of Port Hueneme (pronounced "Wy-nee'mee") is located in Ventura County. The port, Port Hueneme, is the only deep-water harbor between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area and is the U.S. Port of Entry for the state's central coast region. The US Navy and the Oxnard Harbor District share the port. Construction of the port in 1939-40 significantly impeded the down-coast movement of sand, causing erosion to down-coast beaches including Hueneme Beach. The federal River and Harbor Act of 1954 authorized the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to construct the Channel Islands Harbor with a sand trap. Since then, the Corps has undertaken biennial dredging of approximately one million cubic yards of material from the trap and placed it along the down-coast shoreline to restore and maintain it. In the 2012 cycle, due to federal budget cuts, the Corps moved only 400,000 cubic yards from the Channel Islands Harbor trap to Hueneme Beach. According to the city, high winds and storms following the Corps' December 2012-January 2013 deposit of sand at Hueneme Beach resulted in the near total loss of all the newly placed sand within the first few months of the year. In addition, shoreline erosion reached Surfside Drive, a road paralleling Hueneme Beach. The next scheduled Corps dredging cycle is not until November 2014. SB 436 Page 4 On April 24, 2013, the city declared a local state of emergency and sought assistance at the local, state, and federal levels. Representative Julia Brownley (D-Oak Park) is working with multiple federal agencies, the White House, and Congress to secure funds and authorization for an interim dredge cycle to restore the sand deficit along Hueneme Beach. In the meantime, the city obtained emergency permits from the Commission and the Corps to place rock below the eroded section of Surfside Drive as a temporary stopgap. The city placed the first section of boulders in July and plans to extend it further down the beach; however, additional funding (approximately $2,000,000) is needed. Similar Legislation. AB 141 (Gorell) would have appropriated $2,000,000 from the General Fund to the City of Port Hueneme for the emergency erosion control measures. This bill was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee this year, presumably because the source of revenue would have been the General Fund. Assemblymember Williams is proposing amendments to AB 606 that would appropriate $1,000,000 from Prop 12 to the City of Port Hueneme for the emergency measures. AB 606 is intended to provide the first round of funding for the emergency erosion control measures. This bill, SB 436, would provide the second round of funding needed for the emergency erosion control measures. SB 436 and AB 606 (as proposed to be amended) are double joined. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support Julia Brownley, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives Kathy I. Long, Ventura County Supervisor Opposition Recreational Boaters of California Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 SB 436 Page 5